Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Chris Taylor (3) and third baseman Justin Turner (10) react after Chris Taylor scores during the fifth inning of an MLB game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. on Thursday July 4, 2019. Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the against the San Diego Padres 5-1. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Max Muncy (13) is high fived by his teammates after tagging third and scoring during the sixth inning of an MLB game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. on Thursday July 4, 2019. Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the against the San Diego Padres 5-1. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

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LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 04: Cody Bellinger #35 is greeted by Max Muncy #13 of the Los Angeles Dodgers as he crosses the plate after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning off the game against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium on July 4, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 04: Cody Bellinger #35 is greeted manager Dave Roberts #30 and bench coach Bob Geren #8 of the Los Angeles Dodgers after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning off the game against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium on July 4, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 04: Cody Bellinger #35 of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws his bat as he runs to first after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning off the game against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium on July 4, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 04: Chris Taylor #3 in the dugout after scoring a run on a sacrifice fly by Alex Verdugo #27 of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fifth inning of the game against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium on July 4, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)

Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Joc Pederson (31) reacts after being hit by a pitch during the fifth inning of an MLB game against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. on Thursday July 4, 2019. Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the against the San Diego Padres 5-1. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Matt Beaty (45) fist bumps Los Angeles Dodgers first base coach George Lombard (29) after hitting a single against the San Diego Padres during the fifth inning of an MLB game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. on Thursday July 4, 2019. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

LOS ANGELES — Last fall, the Dodgers would have had better luck rolling up newspapers and hunting houseflies.

Their final six batters, in Game 5 of the World Series, struck out. Their final seven outs were strikeouts. In 16 playoff games, they struck out 173 times and hit .205.

“I hate to always go back to history,” manager Dave Roberts said Thursday. “But if you look at last year, on the big stage, we got a little big with our swings, we got out of the zone a little bit. When you go to the offseason and look at what you can improve on, that was one of those things.”

The Dodgers came into Thursday night with a 59-29 record and five consecutive last-at-bat wins, culminating with Cody Bellinger’s hollow-point home run that landed high into the right-field pavilion Wednesday.

The previous night was far more remarkable: Five consecutive walks with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and an 0-and-2 count on Chris Taylor, for a 5-4 win over Arizona.

Russell Martin walked after a 1-and-2 count. So did Bellinger for the game-winner. It was aggressive passiveness at its peak, because the Dodgers had convinced Arizona’s pitchers, and maybe the home plate umpire as well, that if they took a pitch it obviously couldn’t be a ball. The exact details of that rally were unprecedented in Major League Baseball.

Nothing personifies the Dodgers’ 2019 season than their walk and strikeout rankings. They led the National League with 343 walks, 10 more than the Cubs. They are 14th, or next-to-last, in strikeouts with 691, 16 more than Pittsburgh.

The 2004 Giants, who won a World Series, are the only National League team to have the most walks and the fewest strikeouts in a season. The Dodgers have led in walks the past two seasons but were sixth in strikeouts last year, seventh in 2016.

Pitch recognition has been the Rosetta Stone of hitting since forever. Seeing the ball isn’t enough. Seeing the stitches and processing what they mean, in a half-blink, is the key. The Dodgers are far from the first team to prize the walk and its role in wearing out pitchers, but they’re unique, at least this year, in converting that ethic into offense.

After all, a selective hitter is bound to strike out because he’ll be finicky enough to get to two strikes. But what happens then? The Dodgers are tops in the league, and third overall, in two-strike batting average (.201).

“It’s the most prepared team, by far, that I’ve been on in terms of studying pitchers,” said David Freese, who made the Dodgers his fourth team last August. “We give each other our ideas about how to approach certain guys, what they’ll do in certain situations.

“Things have changed quite a bit in 10 years. It’s a little more specific now, you’ve got a little more data. You have a better understanding of what the baseball’s actually doing. When I came up, it was like, ‘OK, it’s hard, it’s soft, it’s out, up and over.’ We’ve got virtual reality now, we’ve got all kinds of drills, they’re just coming and coming. Kids who are 10 years old are starting to do the things we’re doing. It’s great, great for the game.”

All that knowledge works best against pictures of familiar pitchers. The Dodgers didn’t know the Boston arms nearly as well. The previous year, they had their breakout games against Houston, with 10 homers, but they still hit .205 with a .683 OPS. So if they get to the World Series — sorry, the invitations aren’t out quite yet — they’ll have to maintain the trust that has carried them to 60 wins by the Fourth of July.

“I think it’s the recognition that is more important, not to make outs than to get out of character and try to slug and be a hero,” Roberts said. “Corey Seager is excellent naturally at pitch recognition, but I think it also can be developed, and a lot of it is the hitter’s frame of mind.”

The Dodgers have a “chase rate” of 28.3 percent, meaning they rarely swing at non-negotiable pitches. That’s also lowest, or best, in the NL. Among 237 qualifying hitters, Max Muncy’s 24.78 rate was 205th.

But they’re not opposed to swings. In the sixth inning Thursday, Bellinger smoothly parked his 30th home run into the right-field seats.

“It’s hard when you’re feeling that good to take pitches like he’s able to do,” Justin Turner said. “You just want to swing at everything.”

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